


Just a Little Bit Mad

by Talc



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Alice in Wonderland, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Blood and Gore, Cats, Fluff, Historical Accuracy, Historical Inaccuracy, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, a lot of cats, sister gershwin palmer - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-03-26 07:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3841726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talc/pseuds/Talc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Carlos's mother sent him to America with only an address and wishes of good fortune, what was he to expect? Well, certainly not the eccentric Mr. Palmer, owner of hundreds of cats, alcoholic, and wealthy with nothing to do. And how come this cat keeps following him around?</p><p>Of course, then there's the door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Palmer Manor

Carlos, a scientist, had taken notice of the odd glances the townspeople gave him when he asked for directions to whatever was hastily scribbled on the slip of paper his mother had sent him three months ago. Apparently 'the old Palmer place', as he had heard it referred to by six people now, was something of a hot topic in town. The owner was something of a social recluse, a tyrant, a witch, a monster- Carlos heard several stories on his way to the tall mansion at the end of the lane. 

Their was a wide lawn blocked out by an old iron wrought gate, a brilliant garden shining from behind it's bars. Carlos looked around for some sort of way of opening the gate, but a gentle push showed it wasn't even locked, so he pressed onward, taking his bag and strolling among a well-tended garden of bright blooms and trees older than the manor itself, we assume. And soon he's standing on the doorstep of Palmer Manor, glancing at a ginger cat sitting in the sun, utterly relaxed. He earns a lazy glance from the cat, watching its abnormally short tail waving around contently. 

The cat closes its eyes, quickly falling asleep in the midday sun. 

When the door opens, Carlos doesn't know what to expect, but surely it is not the man that stands before him. He is tall, but not tall, short but not short. His hair is well kept and his glasses give off a rather homely feeling, coat missing from over his rather drab clothing, a simple pair of trousers and a tartan vest over a simple white shirt. He laughs as several cats dart out the door, a few winding their way through the man's legs and Carlos tries not to flinch as some felines rush past him and into the garden. 

This surely cannot be the Mr. Palmer everyone seems so afraid of? Can't be, this man couldn't harm a leaf!

Then Carlos notices the man is staring, face a bit red in the light, but maybe it is just the light, as the light does. The scientist finds himself staring back, feeling his face heat and why was that? Then he coughs, looking away from the curious man in embarrassment. 

"Apologies, this is the Palmer Manor, correct? I was given an address and..." He rifles through his pockets, pulling out the scrap of paper and offering it to the man. 

The man stares in awe as he gingerly takes the paper, not seeming to be able to look away till his face is scarlet and he too is coughing to cover up his own embarrassment. 

"I'm so sorry, how rude of me!" He scrambles to hold out a hand to Carlos, plastering on a nervous smile as he tries to retain some presence. "Yes, I am Mr. Palmer. Apologies, really, I don't get visitors often and I was...Surprised." 

Carlos smiles back. "My name is Carlos-"

"Carlos? Oh that's a lovely name!" Palmer cuts in before the scientist can get out his last name. "Whoops, sorry, that was rude of me." He blushes, covering his mouth. "Is there anyway I can help you?"  
"My mother gave me the address...I needed a place to stay while I was down south and she told me I would be we-"

"Who's your mother? I don't think I've seen a woman here in years..." Palmer cuts in again. "And surely I would remember hair as lovely as you- Oh gosh!" This time he covers his whole face, flush sprinting down his neck. "I'm so bad at this..." He mutters in embarrassment. 

"Well her name is Mona-" Palmer's head perks up. 

"Mona? The Mona? Oh I can't believe I didn't see it! Of course, you look so similar! Oh please come inside Carlos, we can have tea in the garden!" Carlos suddenly watches as Palmer darts off, having to quickly scramble around a group of curious cats to follow after him. He shivers, holding back a sneeze as the cats parade after him, eager to meet this suspicious new visitor. 

"Many cats you have in your home..." He small talks as he catches up with Palmer. 

"Hm...? Oh yes, my cats! Well, not mine exactly. Strays, mostly. No one in this town can afford to take care of all their kittens and do you know what they do with them if no one takes them in? They kill them! Poison them and leave them to die or throw them in the river, and oh, it is soooo horrible, Carlos, I tell you!" Palmer raises a hand to his forehead, swaying dramatically. "So I take the little kitties in. All I can, really. I mean, what is the point of fabulous wealth if you never do anything with it? If I can save cats then why should money be set to rot or wasted?'

Carlos finds Palmer's thought's quite charming, though he doesn't know if he could ever stay in a house with so many cats for very long. They make him sneeze. 

He's lead out into a garden just as bright and beautiful as that in the front of the house, a table set up in the middle of a set of purple violets and lilac bushes. Palmer leads Carlos to the table, pulling out a seat for him before dashing off to get them some tea. His seat is immediately taken by a large maine coon cat, watching him as many of the other cats congregate around him to sniff at him, rub against his legs, then walk away like they never noticed him. 

Once the crowd clears, the bright orange cat from early is suddenly in Carlos's lap, rubbing fondly against the scientist's stomach, kneading at his legs and curling up on the spot. Carlos watched the cat in shock, not knowing what to do. But since the small thing didn't seem to intend on leaving, he decided that he had nothing better to do but softly pet the tabby, carefully moving his fingers over the short fur. He'd never had a cat before, so approached with caution. Soon the cat was purring, a deep sound thrumming from the fluffy creature and Carlos couldn't help but smile fondly. 

Kinda cute, actually...

Then there's footsteps and Palmer is back, balancing a tray on one hand and a book under the other arm. He sets the tray down, beaming awkwardly. "Sorry that took so long, I wanted to grab the pho...to...album..." He goes still as his eyes land on Carlos's lap and at first the scientist thinks he's about to get into a horrible, blushy situation, but no, Palmer speaks in a high pitched voice and everything is...Confusing. 

"Carlos...What is that in your lap?"

Carlos glances down, thinking he'll find something horrible, but it's just the cat. "A cat...?" He looks up at the man in confusion. 

"Ah...A cat..." Carlos watches Palmer's eye twitch slightly. "I wouldn't...Don't touch the cat. Actually, here!" the man rushes forward and grabs the tabby by the scruff of its neck, tearing it away from Carlos with a loud screech of discontent from the feline, tossing the cat towards the ground. Carlos winces as he thinks it will get hurt, but the cat just lands and hisses at Palmer, skittering towards Carlos and hiding behind his legs. 

"It's just a cat, Palmer." Carlos finds himself thrown aback by the act, reaching down to pick up the frightened thing again. 

"No!" Palmer shouts. "Stay away from him you mangy wreck!" He's dashing forward again but one cat is quicker than another and all of a sudden the maine coon who had taken such a nice spot on Mr. Palmer's chair was hissing at the tabby, chasing him away from the table with a less cat-like, more demonic sound. 

Palmer hisses himself, slumping into his now empty chair with a sigh.

Carlos stares. "Mr. Palmer...What was that about?" He asks carefully, afraid of the answer, because why would a man showing such fondness for cats attack one in such a manner. 

The man sighs again. "That little ball of sunshine needs to keep away from my estate." He practically growls.

"But isn't he your cat...?"

"No, he's a stray." The light in Palmer's expressions has instantly sunk into darkness as he pours himself a cup of tea, making a face as he sips it. 

"But you said-"

"Not my stray, Carlos. A stray. A little creature crawled from the firey pits of the underworld, sent here to wreak havoc on me. And he has the gall to try and claim you..." The last part is muttered angrily, the man abandoning his tea to march over to a nearby cabinet, pulling out a bottle of dark liquid and returning to add a hefty amount of it to his tea. As he takes a long swig of the concoction, a sharp smell of rum drifts from the cup.  
"Is it really the time of day to be drinking, Mr. Palmer?" Carlos remarks. 

The man laughs bitterly, almost slamming down his tea cup. "It's never too early to drink." He presses the tray forward, offering tea to Carlos as his bright demeanor fades. Carlos hesitates, but pours himself a cup and takes a short sip. 

"Can a cat really b-" He tries again, cut off my a dark growl.

"Drop it, sir, or I assure you, you will thrown on the streets for the wolves to feast on." Suddenly the stories the village told him don't seem quite so wild. In wake of this, he drops the subject. 

Change of mind, then, he decides. "The...The book?" He points to the leather bound, hefty bind of paper sitting next to the tea tray. 

"Ah yes...Your mother." Palmer opens up the book and flips through pages of ink written print, a journal, he realises, just as a page is presented to him. "This is her, yes?"

Carlos stares down at the journal, a thumb running across the inked sketch of a woman in flowers and pearls, eyes drawn bright and laughing, smile just right and...Yes. A long time ago, in a different world, this would be her. This would be his mother. But why did it look so...

"This is my grandfather's journal." Palmer explains, looking at the weathered pages fondly. "He spoke often of your mother in his writings. They met in Barbados when he was a young man, and she a younger woman. He was there on a trip before university, hoping for adventure, or something otherwise foolish, I guess, and she joined his travels as his partner. When he was to return home, she went with him. He didn't want her to work, said he'd give her anything she'd want but, heh, she told him she'd work even if she had to force him to let her. I guess she became his assistant."

Carlos grins despite himself. That sounded like his mother; brave, stubborn, and helpful. She'd never seemed to want to be given anything unless she thought she deserved it. 'Sweat and perseverance are the keys to good honey', she'd always tell him as she scraped the mentioned substance onto thick buttered bread and stuff it into his mouth, 'Now go weed the garden, Carlito.' Gosh, he missed her so much. 

"He loved her very much, I can tell. There are paintings of her all over the east wing of the manor, though...Well, I don't really go there much anymore..." He tries to laugh, but Carlos catches the melancholy look in the man's eyes. "You look a lot like her. Same hair, eyes...Though, I suppose, nose is quite different...And of course, no one could be as handsom- Ha...Haaaall...Tall!! No one could be as tall as you, at least not around here, heh!" He rambles, face flushing. Carlos chuckles, finding Palmer's antics charming. 

"Anyways, I guess they never got married, though she was quite young for him...Though, I don't think their story was a romance, more like a partnership. It's odd, I've never seen another woman's picture in the manor, not since my mother's were taken down and thrown in the attic...Lovely woman, she must have been..." He goes into silence as he closes the journal. "I guess...Well, she must have thought grandfather was still alive. I'm sure he'd have done anything for a child of hers...I guess..." The silence returns and Carlos fills it with awkward sips of tea while Palmer gulps down more rum. When he speaks again, he sounds exhausted. "You can stay here as long as you like. I'm happy for the company, I guess. As much as I love my cats, they make for poor conversation on sunny afternoons." He cracks a meager smile, and Carlos tries to return it in full. 

That night, Carlos settles down in a room Palmer shows him, his meager supplies set to the side as he sits and stares at the wall. When he hears a scratching at the door, he knows it's a cat, but is surprised when it's the tabby Mr. Palmer had been so angry at earlier. Carlos wants to usher the cat out, if only to please Mr. Palmer, but then the cat is curled up on one of the pillows, and he looks so cute and content, Carlos can't stop him. 

He leaves the cat there and curls up in bed himself. When he wakes up in the morning, the cat has moved to his chest, and Carlos waits for him to wake up too before trying to leave, since he feels like it would be rude to move the cat himself. While he gets dressed, he pets the tabby softly and murmurs to him. 

Companionship is nice.

"You're a nice cat...I haven't sneezed around you yet, at least...I don't know why Mr. Palmer was mad at you, you seem sweet." The cat purrs and nuzzles Carlos gratefully. He giggles. 

"Do you have a name, tomcat? How about...Well, Palmer called you a ball of sunshine yesterday, how about Sunshine?" The cat laps at Carlos's hand and he decides that's a yes. "Alright then, Sunshine. I'm Carlos. How about we go get some food?" Carlos stands and heads for the door, watching Sunshine follow at his heels, rubbing up against his ankles and circling through his legs as the scientist finds his way through the large manor in search of a kitchen.

Carlos is not surprised to find that the house is filled with bowls for the cats, a whole room of the house, which seems like it's supposed to be a ballroom, set aside for cat food, water, and pillows. He tries to suggest for Sunshine to go eat their, but the tabby cat refuses to leave his side, so Carlos continues on his search. He finds the kitchen close to the back garden, a large room painted in white and filled with fresh flowers and fruits and vegetables from Palmer's many plants. 

Sitting atop a large counter amongst cooking utensils is the large Maine Coon cat from the day before, sprawled out under the morning light that shines through nearby windows. There's a dish of water sitting next to the cat, and Carlos watches as Sunshine effortlessly jumps onto the counter, lapping at the water happily. He smiles, then explores the kitchen in search of a kettle and some tea. He's halfway through cooking breakfast when he hears the soft sound of shoeless footsteps. 

Mr. Palmer stands in the doorway, only half dressed in sleeping trousers and a morning robe of fine, rich purple material, rubbing sleepily at one of his eyes. 

"Good morning, Mr. Palmer." The scientist says, turning back to the stove to pay attention his cooking. 

"Carlos?" The man yawns. Carlos hears a soft clicking noise near his feet and sees the tabby cat standing protectively at his ankles. He laughs, turning to search through the cupboard for plates. 

"I made some food, if you don't mind. Your cooking utensils don't seem so well used, though. Do you often avoid eating?"

He earns something akin to a grumble in return, Mr. Palmer shuffling over to a cupboard and beginning to form a drink that seemed to be 75% alcohol, and 25% coffee, his eyes still half closed with sleep. Carlos takes notice of mused hair and half-skewed classes perched on the man's nose and can't help but chuckle, finding something oddly charming about the sleepy man. 

"I'll set up a plate for you." He smiles, moving about the kitchen to try and find table ware. He hears another grumble and then there are two plates on the kitchen counter before Mr. Palmer shuffles out of the room, a trail of cats following behind him. 

Carlos just chuckles again, going back to trying to summon together something palatable for breakfast. The Palmer Manor seemed quite bereft of most necessary food stuff, but there was an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and herbs from the garden, and at least a loaf of slightly stale bread. Carlos had a feeling this man was mostly living off of alcohol alone, which was quite worrying, if you asked him. 

He finds Mr. Palmer in something resembling a dining hall, though much darker and dustier than one would think. The man is sitting at a chair with his head on the table, the large maine coon cat that seems to always be around the man lying on his shoulders, as if using the sleepy Mr. Palmer as a pillow. Carlos chuckles and sets down the two breakfast plates before striding around the room to pull open curtains, letting light filter onto the table. As he returns to Mr. Palmer, the man let's out a string of grumbles that may be vulgarities or complaints, or maybe even thank yous, but it is quite hard to tell. 

"The food is warm, if you want to eat it before it cools." He offers, taking own plate and beginning to shuffle food around. Mr. Palmer groans quietly, though pulls the plate closer, not bothering to move the cat on his back as he awkwardly spooned food into his mouth. Carlos smiles, continuing to eat his own breakfast in a rather companionable silence. He feels some thing rub up against his legs and looks down to see Sunshine nuzzling his pants, moving his chair back to let the cat jump into his lap and curl up. 

"I'm going out into town today. I have some things to look into, need to get to know this place." Carlos says once his food is gone, shifting his attention to petting the cat in his lap. Mr. Palmer doesn't even look up. "I was wondering if maybe you'd...Want to go with me?"

Something in Mr. Palmer's demeanor changes, though Carlos doesn't know what, as his head lifts slightly from the table, his cheeks veritably flushed pink. "W-with you? In...In town?" His normally low voice goes high in a slightly adolescent way as his eyes dart to look at Carlos. 

"Well, yes." Carlos is dumbfounded. 

"I'd lo- actually, no, sorry, can't." The previously exhausted man is hurrying to stand up, not noticing the cat who had been on his shoulders fall to the floor with a shriek as he scampers away from Carlos. "Very busy day, lot'stodo, so nope. Sorry. Good day, Carlos!" Then the man is running out of the room, a very disgruntled cat running after him, followed by a long line of others. Carlos watches him run, puzzled by the odd behaviour.

He shrugs it off, blaming the alcohol Mr. Palmer had been consuming, and going to wash up before he leaves the manor. 

-

Once he leaves the house, he is not even surprised to find Sunshine at his feet, following after him as he heads out into town. "Hello there." He smiles. The tabby cat meows back, rubbing against his legs happily. 

The town of Night Vale was small and dry and personal. Carlos hadn't been in a such a town in years. Old fashion, it was, with small, old houses, and small, old families. The library was small and old and empty, they only had one store, and women still walked about without bonnets or petticoats, bustles or corsets, and the men lacked jackets and vests. In the cities and the big towns, this would never be accepted. Not that Carlos understood this much of the world anyways. He'd only been in it for 'bout a decade. 

Though, even with his city clothes, Carlos knew it wasn't him exactly that everyone was staring at as he wandered down the street, it was Mr. Palmer. Well, the thought of him. Carlos reckoned that by now everyone knew who he was, where he was staying, and the cat at his heels couldn't have helped. 

He tried to ignore those who cast their eyes his way. After all, he was here in this town for a reason. For science reasons. Serious. Science. Reasons. 

Two hours later, after two awkward conversations, several glaring looks, one mother covering the face of her child, and a group of youths making fun of his height, Carlos returned to the manor, watching Sunshine run past him towards the kitchen.  
This was appropriate; Carlos had bought some food for the empty house, and he welcomingly went towards said room, bag in hand. 

Sunshine had taken place on the counter, again, laying in a patch of sun, tail swaying lazily. Carlos stopped to scratch him softly behind the ears before going to put the groceries away, making sure to put them in a somewhat organized manner. 

"What are you doing here?" Hisses a voice, and Carlos almost jumps only to realise it's just Mr. Palmer, glaring at Sunshine. 

"He was keeping me company." Carlos says simply, glancing at Mr. Palmer. "I see you got dressed."

"Hm?" Mr. Palmer snapped out of his anger at the cat enough to glance back at Carlos, face going scarlet as he suddenly gives a double take, looking down at his clothes and back up. Gone was his silk robe, replaced with a well-made waistcoat and a good shirt, tucked into black trousers. He looked more put together today than yesterday, his hair better combed, his spectacles straight. "Oh...I uh. Yeah. I put on clothing...So sorry you saw me in my undergarments, Carlos. Truly, I am very sorry, it was improper-"

"It's fine, Mr. Palmer." Carlos smiles, putting away the last of the groceries before closing the cupboard and turning to look at his only other human housemate. "You are graciously letting me stay in your home. It is no trouble to me what you wear or what you do. I am not in the place to judge."

Mr. Palmer's face could not get any redder. "Oh...I um...Well...You don't have to wear clothes either if you- Oh gods that was inappropriate! Sorry I- You know what, I have work to do, excuse me Carlos sosorrybye!" And then the man was dashing out of the room, completely forgetting about the tabby cat he had been yelling at. 

"Hm..He's an odd one." Carlos muses to himself.

-

Days at the Palmer Manor were...Well, never a bore, to say the least. Every other day it seemed like more and more felines had found there way into the household, every shape, size, and breed imaginable, from the nicest of well-groomed cats, to strays with blind eyes or missing ears, with tails chopped off and claws removed. Every single one was treated like family, though, given love and attention from Mr. Palmer, and occasionally Carlos, though the sneezing was a bit of an issue. He had acquired many handkerchiefs in the last few days. 

All, of course, excluding Sunshine. When the cat disappeared, Carlos had no idea what he got about to, but he tended to stick to the scientist, evading Mr. Palmer and generally being yelled at and shooed out more than a few times, only to find his way back in without a trace of how. 

He was welcome company. Carlos spent a good amount of his time in a room conjoined to the library, which itself was a marvel; well stocked and picturesque, with texts from long before up to ceilings, and more books than shelves could contain. Research was easier here, science more abundant. He'd found some jobs on the side in the village, things people needed science for. Besides that, Carlos spent a good time sending letters and reports to a university in the east, who were financing the most of his efforts. 

At first, it had been hard to find any university to accept him. People in the northern world seemed to find his accent jarring and his appearance wrenched. But Carlos knows he's quite smart, and was able to find one person to look past that enough to give him a chance. He was lucky. Not all had been. 

In his free time, Carlos read diaries from Mr. Palmer's grandfather, of his mother and their adventures together. He'd never known that his mother had done so much in her early lifetime. Of course, now that lifetime was coming to an end. When she sent him off to America, she had been bedridden for some time. Old age had found her frail and weak, and Carlos had wanted to stay. But money these days is thin.

Carlos sends back all he can to make sure his mother is well cared for. Hopefully soon he'll be able to see her before her...Before...Yeah...

At least for now he had the companionship of Mr. Palmer, as odd as it is. Aside from being an alcoholic, cat loving recluse, the man has these odd idiosyncrasies.

For instance, he had a habit of staring at Carlos, face bright red like he has a fever, before shouting and then running off. Or might the time be mentioned where Carlos found him hanging from the ceiling, trying to write in a notebook from hundreds of feet above. Or maybe how the man disappeared every day, doing god knows what. Maybe the people in town were right. Mr. Palmer did seem rather...Odd. Not in an unnerving way, at least not when he's sober.

-

Carlos was spending his time in Mr. Palmer's garden that day. He'd found a spot under a large tree, with clover and drying grass surrounding him in the shade. He observed the world around him, jotted down notes and just generally took a break from long calculations about the sky. 

Sunshine was curled up next to him, leaching body heat off of the scientist whilst taking a nap. 

The tabby cat had apparently decided Carlos was his. He hardly ever left Carlos's side, except those occasional hours he'd disappear. And even though Carlos knew Mr. Palmer hated the cat, he couldn't get Sunshine to leave him alone, let alone leave the house forever. Though, Carlos had no idea why the man hated the cat so much. he was sweet when not, well, clingy. 

It was a nice day. He wasn't expecting one, to be perfectly honest. His equipment predicted a storm, a massive one at that, but not a cloud drifted by. Nice weather...

Carlos yawns. Apparently the warm weather was affecting him maybe a bit too much. Going inside might be a better idea. after all, scientists don't sleep when they can be working. He moves to stand, the shift in muscles making sunshine suddenly jump out of sleep, looking up at Carlos curiously. Carlos smiles and pats the cat on the head before moving to-

Suddenly, Sunshine grabs Carlos's notebook from his lap, dashing off quicker than the scientist thought possible. Without even thinking, he stands and runs after him. He needs that! It was ver-

The ground scraps hard against his face as he meets it, foot tangling into a bush so small he would never have noticed until he fell. He stands again, brushing dirt off his good pants, trying to keep himself looking presentable. Oh, but the cat!

His head darts around, looking for Sunshine, only to see the cat sitting right in front of him, journal no where to be seen. The cat let's out a soft mew before taking off again, down through the garden, where hedges grew taller and thicker, and Carlos followed with reckless abandon. 

The door was a surprise. In the very back of the garden, among tall sunflower stocks and yellow rose bushes, was a old oak door, well carved and polished, seemingly growing out of the foliage. 

Of course, as a scientist Carlos must investigate. So he opens the door, pulling at it with no resistance. A bright light engulfs him, brighter than the sun, blindingly hot and as pure as the sky. It's enchanting. So beautiful...Carlos enters the light, steps heavy and unfocused, pulling him against his will. The light swallows him whole. and the door closes.

-

There was a heavy weight on his chest, like someone was pressing down weights right on his pectorals. But when he opened his eyes, he saw no weights, but the head of a man. A slim face, with almost animalistic features, a small flat nose and piercing eyes. He had a messy mop of hair and a peaceful, though slightly unnerving smiling face. As well as having teeth jaggedly pointy, the man's eyes were a deep, coal black, like staring into a starless night, void and empty. 

Then of course, there were the orange cat ears perched among his hair. 

The man looks perfectly tickled as he notices Carlos is awake, purring softly and nuzzling up against his chest. Something soft rubs against Carlos's arm and he realizes it's a long, ginger striped tail swishing from the man on top of him. What?

"Oooooh you're awake~" The man sings. His tongue waves out from behind his teeth, thin and pointed, and completely unnatural. "I have been waiting absolutely forever!" The...Err....Man happily let's out a loud meow! Nuzzling against Carlos's chest. 

Carlos can only stare, brow drawing close together in confusion. "What...Who are you?"

The man's head perks up. "Who am I? Well, isn't that a good question! Golly, I knew you were smart, Carlos. After all, you are a scientist. Wow, who am I? Well, who are any of us really? What are any of us? Are we all just stars thrown from the sky or tiny pinpricks in a bigger picture?" The man rolls around on the ground till he's lying on top of Carlos, staring up at a deep, dark purple sky. 

"That's not really what I was asking." Carlos says, trying to move out from underneath the cat-man. "And- hey, how do you know my name?"

The man giggles, rolling back to face Carlos. "You told me, silly."

Carlos blinks. He does not remember doing that. "No I didn't."

"Yes you did! You named me too! And though it's a very lovely name, you were a bit off." The man giggles again, nuzzling close against Carlos's chest. "I'm Kevin!" He chirps, lunging closer to Carlos so that their noses are almost touching. He's a bit too close for comfort. 

"Ah...Kevin...Who?" Carlos is still confused.

Kevin laughs and rolls off of Carlos. "Maybe you'll remember if-" Then suddenly Kevin disappears, body fading like mist till there's nothing left. Carlos is too shocked to even move, just staring at the space where the man disappeared. 

The soft touch of something butting against his hand breaks him from his reverie, seeing an orange tabby cat rubbing against his side possessively. 

"...Sunshine?" He says in disbelief. The cat meows happily, jumping onto Carlos's chest and nuzzling him affectionately. When he reaches up a hand to tentatively pet the odd cat, suddenly there's a man there instead, purring as Carlos's fingers touch his thick mop of hair. 

Carlos flinches. "You're...You're Sunshine?"

The man...Cat? Kevin. Kevin giggles, rolling off of Carlos again, body falling into a lithe crouch. He lazily stretches, first his arms and legs, then his back, pulling his up and out, arching and contouring his body. Carlos watches with an odd memorization. The man's body is so cat-like, psychically, even when he is human.

Kevin seems to notice the on looking and smiles, pouncing up towards Carlos, who flinches, almost expecting the body to collide with him, but after a second he realises that not only was he not currently covered by a cat-man body, but said body had made no sound either. Cocking his eyebrow, Carlos slides his eyes open to see Kevin literally floating above him, striped tail waving lazily behind him, clawed hands cradling his own chin. 

"Hi~" Kevin purrs, leaning forward to nuzzle Carlos's neck. 

"Uh...Hi." Carlos sits up a little, watching as Kevin drops gracefully onto his lap, resting his head against the scientist's chest. "Were you a uh...A human this whole time?" He asks the man curled up in his lap with a suspicious uneasiness. 

"No, silly!" Kevin giggles. "I've always been a cat! I'm still a cat! Ha, you're so funny."

"...Right." For the first time, Carlos finally glances around, taking in his surroundings. "Where are we?" This is not Mr. Palmer's garden. It is a forest, thick with trees and bushes and flowers too big to be real. The sky is a deep purple, with clouds swirling around in shapes clouds to not swirl around in, and no visible sun. 

"Oh, where is anywhere, really? I mean, this is a forest. That is the ground and that is the sky!" Kevin raises his hands in the air with a bright grin. "Though..." His smile dims. "It's a horrible sky. I much prefer the other one."

"What was better about the other one?" Carlos asks curiously. 

"It was bright and happy with a big smiling sun!" He smiles again, showing off two rows of pointy teeth. Carlos can't help but smile in return. 

"But where are we really? We can't be in America anymore." 

"Hm? Oh, we're elsewhere. Ooooooh, I can show you my home!" He squeals, rolling off of Carlos and into the air. "Come on Caaaarrrrlos~" 

Carlos raises an eyebrow and carefully stands up, finding his legs wobbly and unstable. But then there are arms wrapping around his middle, and a tabby cat man standing behind him, holding him steady as he nuzzles between Carlos's shoulder blades. 

"Hmmmm, I'm really glad you're here, Carlos~" Kevin hums, sounding genuinely grateful. 

"Uh...Glad to be here...Where ever that is..." Carlos says, not quite sure if he means it or not. 

"Mmmmm...Let's go to my house!" Kevin suddenly jumps out from behind Carlos, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards one of the forest paths. "Onward!"


	2. The Duchess and Her Servants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin's house is...Interesting.

The forest is large and intimidating. The trees have literal eyes, which follow Kevin and Carlos as the cat man pulls him down a path so thickly covered by leaves Carlos starts to wonder how often the forest is entered. And where were they going in the first place?

It was hard to tell, with Kevin taking to chatting the whole rush through the trees, twittering away about the sun or something, his hand clutching tight to the scientist's hand. Carlos cold feel claw retract and slide right back out more than once. It made him question all he knew about biology.

"And then the birds would fly into the trees and feast on the energy of a pure day! Oh Carlos, I wish you could see it! The purrrrrrfect scene as the sun rises into the sky, shining it's glowing light onto all of-"

A scream, loud and animalistic, followed by bushes shaking, something running towards them...And then past them. Running away, but from what?

The answer came with happy chirrup from Kevin, who suddenly started pulling Carlos faster. "Oooooh goody we're almost there!"

Seconds later, there it was.

Kevin's house was large and picturesque, with bright yellow paint and flowers along the sides, a picket fence and a white door with a welcome mat and porch. The windows are Gothic, and the lattice designs on the siding suggest wealth. If anything, it was a brighter version of the Palmer Manor. But there were drips of blood from the windows, teeth and intestines scattered about along the ground and, was that a skull? The house looked like the crime scene of a murder...Or a massacre. Had the scream been from...

Kevin is unperturbed, simply pulling Carlos so quickly to the door that he almost trips more than once in the man's haste.

Inside, the house is more disturbing than the exterior, something Carlos previously thought impossible. Blood soaked the floors and ceilings, smeared on the walls in pictures of flowers and suns. Teeth were all over the floor, all shapes and sizes, bloody and fresh. And was that brain matter on the curtain?

Their shoes make horrific squelching noises as they walk down the hallway, and Carlos had to side step to avoid letting viscera fall onto his clothes. Screaming returns to their ears, this time more high pitched and reminiscent of a steam whistle.

"Ugh, she's home." Kevin does something akin to a scowl, if scowls still involved smiling. "OH well. We can ju-"

"KEVIN? Is that you?" A voice rings from one of the nearby doors, shrill and jarring. It makes Carlos want to pick glass out of his ears.

"Who's that?" Carlos asks, watching Kevin wince.

"My 'owner'." The sarcasm is heavy. Then a door is thrown open and the cat throws on the most horrible smile possible. "Ah hello there Duchess Lauren! You're looking particularly tramp-like today." Kevin sings, pulling Carlos into the room with him as he all but glares at the inhabitants of it.

This room is even bloodier than the others, with intestines hanging from the ceiling like streamers, and walls so thickly plastered in blood, you cannot actually see the walls. The worst part, though was the woman inside.

"Oh Kevin, how I'd love to throw you out the window~" The jarring voice sings in equal passive aggressiveness. Her hair is curled and short, her make up too bright and too red, and her dress; bright yellow, garishly decorated with ribbons and splashes of blood. She was sitting on what seemed to be a throne of blood-stained bones, some still wet, with skulls thrown at the top and large statue behind her, one of a sun and a human...ish thing holding it, a smile larger that its face. "So lovely of you to finally come home, you mangy feline. You've been missing for soooo long. Ooooh and look, you brought an ugly little pet! How cute of you!"

Carlos does not know whether he should be offended or not that this horrible woman did not like him. He was leaning towards the latter.

Kevin huffs, letting go of Carlos to strut over to the throne, a feral grin on his lips. "Well aren't you more of a shiny slattern today, dear duchess. Ha, you must be spending more time bathing in the tears of your friends- Oh wait, sorry, rude of me to mention things you don't have!" He giggles, ducking as a bone is thrown towards his head.

"Oh Kevin, that wasn't very kind of you." Duchess Lauren says through gritted teeth, raising another bone to launch it at Kevin, who merely laughs and ducks like it's a game. "I see why you like to bring in such nasty vermin to my home." She casts a glance towards Carlos, letting Kevin let out a livid snarl.

"Carlos is as mine as this building is, Lauren dear~" He purrs, darker undertones running under words that come out dulcet and cheerful. He wanders back over to the scientist, wrapping arms around him and rest his chin on Carlos's shoulder. "You wouldn't want me to just leave with him, would you? Do tell, miss dirty puzzle, how has your 'palace' been holding up since I've been gone."

He grins with deep satisfaction as the woman stands, hands balled into fists, her face shaking with the sheer effort to continue smiling as she steps towards Kevin and his scientist 'pet'. Carlos doesn't quite know what to do, but he thinks he's being thrown into something much bigger and darker than he'd expected.

"Oh Kevin~ Kevin Kevin Kevin~ Is my little kitty throwing a temper tantrum? Shall we have a discussion about productivity?" Her smile wides, eyes flashing dangerously.

Kevin is, again, unperturbed. "Hmmmm....Well, you could, Duchess dear, but then you'd just be all embarrassed, finding out what I have been up to. My big pictures, hm? And that's no fun."

Lauren does not respond, staring without saying a thing, keeping her eyes pinned on the cat currently taking his time to nuzzle a satisfied smile onto Carlos's shoulder. Seconds tick by and Carlos doesn't quite know what to do. He feels like a pawn in a game of chess, or maybe a garden decoration, just there.

The two on either side of him kept murderous smiles on one another, Lauren's hands curling and clenching like she's wringing someone's neck, Kevin taking his sweet time baring his teeth at the woman.

Then, like that, the moment is gone. Kevin giggles and lets go of Carlos, and Lauren turns away, walking back to her throne with a huff.

A whistling scream is heard off in the distant and Kevin's earlier smile is back, giddy and childish. "Oh Carlos, I can introduce you to Daniel~!"

-

Daniel was an automaton of impossible standards, that Carlos could tell.

He was made of copper and steel, with painted on suit and eyes made of obsidian. Blood clung to his metal skin, muscles clinging over caked on masses of dried viscera. He had a smile carved into his head haphazardly, most likely with the knife was sticking out of one of his legs.

Oil was pouring from his neck as a surprising rate, smoke drifting from somewhere inside him.

Apparently, Daniel is what was screaming so horribly. Lauren scoffs as Kevin's attention is drifted toward the horrid looking invention, wrapping his arms around Daniel with a happy squeal.

"Daniel! I made a new friend~!" Kevin sings, watching as Daniel twitches, smoke pouring from his joints.

He let's out another scream, causing Lauren to hiss. "Kevin, leave him alone! Stupid thing is broken again."

Kevin pouts. "Aw, Duchess, did you break him? That's sooo mean of you!"

"It wasn't me you idiot. It was Cecil and his band of rebellious twits." Carlos has no idea who Cecil is, but from the reactions of the people around him, he is not well liked. The scientist steps forward to examine Daniel, prodding at his metal skin. It had seen better days.

"Oh that Cecil! He's so unproductive!" Kevin giggles, skipping back to Carlos to nuzzle his shoulders affectionately."

Daniel lets out another loud screech, more smoke filling up the room.

"Get out of here, you broken wreck! You too you worthless cat! Bring your ugly pet with you!" Lauren says, anger in her cheery, horrible voice. Daniel just crumbles to the ground with another screech of metal. Lauren let's out an exasperated noise and what commences is a shouting match between a Duchess and an automaton.

Kevin pulls Carlos out of the house while the other two are distracted, still smiling and skipping about cheerily.

Carlos has no idea what's going on, but he feels like he should be afraid.

-

The sky is darker now as Kevin leads Carlos down through forest paths, another running commentary flowing from his lips.

"I'm sooooo sorry Laur Laur was there. Ha, sometimes I forget that horrible minx is my owner, isn't that silly? And she was soooooo mean to you, dear Carlos. I mean, you're not very attractive at all, but that doesn't she needs to call you ugly! You are so smart and your personality is...Good. Leave it to a duchess to only look at the superficial things in life."

Carlos still can't tell if he should be offended or not by words like these. Maybe not. Kevin keeps chattering along, anyways. It's hard to keep up, and Carlos doesn't know when he tunes out, doesn't even know he's done it till he hears Kevin ask if he wants to stop for the night.

"Where are we even going?" Carlos voices his thoughts without even thinking.

"Hm? Oh, I dunno. Probably north, maybe south. Not my house, that's for sure." He giggles and must have taken Carlos's not an answer at all as a yes, taking seat beneath a large tree.

Carlos furrows his brow, but takes seat next to Kevin when the man pats the ground next to him, flinching a bit when Kevin immediately takes this as invitation to lay down, rest his head in Carlos's lap with a happy purr.

"Why am I even here, Kevin?" Carlos asks, not stopping himself from softly petting Kevin's hair.

"That's a good question, Carlos! Why are you here? why am I here? What even is this world we are in? are anything really, or just small specks of sand among an endless desert..." Kevin suddenly sits up, sticking his face right up in front of Carlos's, noses almost touching, too close for comfort. "Carlos, do you ever wonder how much sand there is? It has to be a lot. At least seven, maybe thousands of sand. Ha, who even counts all the sand, Carlos? Do you know? You're a scientist, do scientists know?"

Before Carlos can even try to answer, Kevin is lying back down in Carlos's lap, staring up at the canopy. "Golly, big questions tonight, Carlos. Big questions. It's just sooo late for us to be thinking such BIG things, you know?" He yawns, stretching his body out and nuzzling into Carlos's thighs. "Mmmm, it's designated sleeping time. I'm gonna sleep on you now."

Then Kevin is asleep, curling up with a satisfied purr. Carlos doesn't know what to do, since he can't get up and he's stuck uncomfortably against this tree...He tries to sleep anyways. It takes awhile, but the warm hum coming from Kevin is comforting, and the trees are shifting softly in a breeze Carlos can't feel. He falls asleep.

-

It is hard to tell if he is dreaming, or if all that had just happened was a dream, but now Carlos found himself sitting up from where he had awoken on the ground. He was in a garden. Mr. Palmer's garden.

The sky was darker than he remembered it to be earlier, stars already out and glowing. And he was alone, oddly alone.

A loud meow made him turn his head, staring at the source, the large maine coon that always seemed to be around Mr. Palmer. It let out another loud noise before running off, leaving Carlos dumbfounded in the dirt.

"Carlos!" Was that Mr. Palmer? Quick footsteps in the distance, getting closer and closer until Carlos sees the figure of Mr. Palmer slide into view, worry clearly etched on his face. "Carlos!" He pants. The fluffy cat saunters up behind him, rubbing at Mr. Palmer's legs. "Oh Khoshekh, you found him!" The man croons to the cat, rushing forwards to kneel at Carlos's side.

"Mr. Palmer?" Carlos looks up at his housemate with confusion, not even flinching when the man rubs his hands over the scientist's arms and chest, gentle and quick, like he's checking for wounds.

"Oh my dear Carlos, I was so worried! Are you alright? Please tell me you're alright! You disappeared for hours and didn't show up for supper and you weren't in your room or the library and the cats couldn't find you and and and-" Mr. Palmer talks so rushed that he is now gasping for breath, words caught in his throat as if a rock is lodged there. Carlos can see tears in his eyes, jumping a bit when the man suddenly wraps his arms around Carlos and clings to him, breath harsh like a child's sob as he hides his face into the scientist's shoulder.

"Err...Mr. Palmer?" Carlos hesitantly reaches out a hand to the pet the distraught man's hair, feeling him flinch below Carlos's touch, before quickly relaxing.

"I thought that that the people in town or he he- or something science got you! I thought you'd left without saying goodbye or or you decided not to come back or were hurt or you you-" he breaks off again with a shudder, clinging closer to Carlos.

Carlos let's the man cling to him, wrapping an arm around his back and pulling him closer, not bothered at all by the fact that the most honorable Mr. Palmer is practically sitting in his lap, crying like a small child.

"I'm sorry I had you worried." He apologizes, feeling the man's grip on him tighten.

"I thought you were dead..." Mr. Palmer whispers, burrowing his face into Carlos's chest.

"Well I'm not, am I?" Carlos instinctively runs a hand along the back of Mr. Palmer's head in an affectionate way, the pad of his thumb rubbing behind the man's ear.

"No, you're not..." Mr. Palmer mumbles, leaning into Carlos's touch.

"Apologies...I must have fallen asleep out here and forgotten to wake up."

Mr. Palmer has gone silent, keeping his face buried into the scientist's chest. There's something dejected in his stature, in the way he still clings to Carlos, in the way his breath is weak and wavering.

They sit there in silence and Carlos does not speak, and neither does the man still holding on tight to him, and nary the wind even makes a sound.

When Carlos finds that his stomach is painfully empty, though, he feels it is time to leave. He prods at Palmer, humming a soft comfort, asking if he's alright to stand up now. The man does not respond.

With furrowed brow, Carlos examines his friend. He is slumped onto the scientist, grip gone loose, head lying close to Carlos's heart. Asleep.

With a soft, amused sigh, Carlos stands, lifting Mr. Palmer with him. He was light, easy to lift, Carlos knew. he had found him passed out, inebriated from the drink, and had carried him to safety before.

He walks back into the manor, watching the fluffy cat, Khoshekh, apparently, follow at his heels, a sort of loyalness following in its walk.

Carlos does not know where Mr. Palmer's room is, so he leaves him on the softest of settees in the sitting room, covering him with a nearby blanket and carefully taking time to remove his shoes and jabot and set his glasses somewhere safe.

Then he leaves to go to the kitchen and find food.

He doesn't think about the door. he doesn't think about the blood and and the...The man? The cat? No, he thinks of non of these things, not while he eats, nor when he baths, nor when he prepares for sleep. But just as he is climbing into bed, he notices something odd.

Blood runs icy through his veins, a pure fear, stark and harsh running through him.

There was blood on his shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter:
> 
> The role of Alice was played by Carlos the Scientist  
> The Cheshire Cat was Kevin the Radio Host  
> The Duchess was Lauren Mallard  
> And the role of the Cook was played by Daniel PossiblyARobot


	3. The Woman in the Sand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest, the chapter is mostly fluff, developing a relationship, the like. Oh and cats. Always cats.

The morning was...Unexpected. Maybe it was the oddness of not having a cat lying on his chest, snuggled up close to him and refusing to let him up. Maybe it was the lack of cats running around as he made his way downstairs, or the fact that the sitting room was empty, drunken housemate no where to be found.

 

Or maybe, just maybe, it was the smell wafting from the kitchen, thick and heady. Maybe it was the sight of seeing a flock of cats sitting passionately outside the kitchen door, curled up together and purring softly to the sound that followed out the door.

 

Mr. Palmer was singing.

 

His voice, it's normal deep and sonorous tone just as lovely as typical, but now with a melody attached, a slow baritone that resounded around the tiled kitchen like an echo. He was standing in the kitchen, dressed and swaying as he fiddled with something on the stove. Cooking. He was cooking. Carlos had never seen him do that before.

 

Carlos leaned against the doorway, careful not to step on any cats as he listened Mr. Palmer's unexpected performance.

 

" _Will you? Won't you? Will you, won't you? Won't you join the dance? Will you? won't you? Will you, won't you? Won't you join the dance?"_ Mr. Palmer hums, swaying his hips as he carefully flips something over on a pan on the stove, steam rising from below it. He looks...Relaxed. " _You can really have no notion how delightful it will be, when they take us up and throw us to the lobsters out at sea. But the snail replied 'too far too far!' And gave a look askance. Said he'd thank the whiting kindly but he would not join the dance~_ "

 

He continues on for another verse, finishing up with whatever he is cooking until the song is apparently done, wherein Carlos grins and claps politely. Mr. Palmer jolts, spinning around with an undignified squeak, glasses slipping down his nose as he nervously scratches at the back of his neck.

 

"Carlos! I uhh...I didn't know you...How long- When...Morning!" His face is bright red as he hastily pushes his spectacles up his face, laughing nervously.

 

"Good morning Mr. Palmer. You have a lovely voice~" Carlos smiles not unkindly, stepping around the hoard of cats and into the kitchen. "I don't know you could cook."

 

"Hm?" Mr. Palmer's face was such a deep scarlet Carlos didn't know if he was breathing. "Oh right...I guess I don't cook much, heh?"

 

"Not really..."

 

"Oh well...It's almost done! Here, go sit down, I'll bring you some food!"

 

"That's really not nece-"

 

"Yes it is!" Mr. Palmer insists with what is probably anger.

 

"Alright, alright." Carlos goes to sit down in the dining room, watching as a string of cats follow after him, the big maine coon, Khoshekh, he remembers, even jumps on his lap, curling up happily. Mr. Palmer comes in minutes, alter, carrying a plate and a mug.

 

"I made you tea as well." He smiles, face still blushing as he places down the meal in front of Carlos. Upon the plate was some sort of thin cake,  or pastry with strawberries and peaches wrapped in them and fresh cream on top. "They're called crepes. From Francia- I mean France."

 

Carlos carefully takes a bite of the crepe, humming happily at the taste. "It's very good, Mr. Palmer. Good job." He smiles, watching Palmer run a hand through his hair nervously.

 

"Uuuhhh thank you!" He laughs weakly.

 

"When did you go to Europe? Did you travel like your grandfather? Like my mother?"

 

"Well I...Give me a second!" Mr. Palmer dashes back into the kitchen and returns with his own plate and cup, taking seat next to Carlos. "Yes, I travelled. I spent four months in Europe in between my university years, spent some time in France and England, visited the alps and took a few days off in Italy. I wanted to go to Greece but...Well, things were complicated..."

 

"That's so interesting. I've never actually been to Europe. It's a dream of mine, but...Well, I hardly had the money to get to America, and after university..."

 

"I understand." Mr. Palmer smiles and Carlos can't help but think that this is the first time he hasn't found the man drinking ten minutes after he wakes. He smiles kindly in return, reaching out a hand to place it over the other man's.

 

"I want to thank you, Mr. Palmer, for letting me stay here. You could have turned me away at the door, but...You didn't. You're a very kind hearted man. It's an honour to be staying with you."

 

The man's cheeks glow pink as he averts his gaze shyly. "That's very kind of you to say, Carlos. But I was just doing what anyone should do, especially for a man as beauti- Smart! As smart as you! You're just so clever, I could never turn away someone like you!" He babbles, laughing high pitched and nervous.

 

"You're modest." Carlos doesn't notice as his thumb absentmindedly strokes over Mr. Palmer's knuckles, doesn't see his friend's eyes widen and his blush darken, running from neck to ear.

 

Then he retracts his hand to finish eating, taking no notice of how Mr. Palmer holds his previously held hand close to his heart, like it's a blessed object. They eat in a companionable silence, something hanging the air that Carlos can't quite put his finger on. But then his companion speaks and it is clear.

 

"About last night...I'd like to request that you try not to disappear like that again. There are places in this house...This area...That are not, well, safe. I don't want to see you hurt, and it's hard to make sure you're okay when...Well..."

 

"I understand. It was an honest mistake Mr. Palmer. I will strive to not do so again." Carlos smiles, watching his friend nod quietly.

 

Carlos does not think about the night before. he does not think about the blood on his shoes.

 

Carlos does not want to think about the blood on his shoes, refuses to think what happened possible. Carlos tries not to remember.

 

"I...Uhh...I have things to do! Lovely to dine with you, watch yourself, goodbyelov-ImeanCarlos!" Mr. Palmer stammers out, suddenly gathering his things and disappearing out the door, leaving Carlos to snap out of his thoughts and stare. Used to such actions, Carlos just shrugs and finishes his food, then going to wash up before retiring back to his bedroom.

 

He was not expecting the surprise that was waiting for him.

 

-

 

The door is closed before Carlos has the time to notice it looks nothing like it did before. What had previously been well attended to cedar was old, and oak. And now he stood in a darkness that was impermeable and thick. There is a sudden harsh wind, and then something blowing past his face. Sand. Sand in thick clouds. He closes his eyes tight, stopping still so the wind may pass.

 

When he opens his eyes again, he is standing in a vast desert, sand billowing around him in great clouds until he has to close his eyes again just to keep the sand out.

 

He stands in the middle of a clouded sand storm, with great winds throwing punches at him in the form of tiny grains of could-be-glass, scrapping against every limb, every hair. the punches hurt in the same way a paper-cut hurts; painful but for a moment when alone, blinding when together. He keeps his eyes shut, his body still. He hurts. He stays.

 

The sand stops a few minutes later, when Carlos's legs grow weak and eyes grow tired. He opens them again and now there is a woman standing a few meters away from him. She is dressed in a dark scarlet, so dark it resembles brown, with a thick blanket cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes are light and hollow, with dark, thick lashes and prominent dark patches beneath, a sign of lack of sleep, but she otherwise young, unblemished. She is dark and tall, and she is holding something. A cane? A staff? She stares with an observational blankness, dress flying in the breeze, giving an oddly dramatic scene.

 

She is wearing a diadem. golden and bronze, with red stones set in place in an elaborate pattern. It's beautiful...She is beautiful. Beautiful like a forest fire, like lightning and ice. Beautiful, nonetheless.

 

Then Carlos blinks, and she's gone. He's gone too.

 

-

 

Something heavy is lying on Carlos's chest. Warm, and humming, with an odd comfort attached to it. He recognizes the feeling, opening his eyes with a soft murmur. "Kevin? Is that you?"

 

A dark feline face jumps into his view, a small tongue placing a rough like on is cheek. "Khoshekh?"

 

The large, fluffy cat let's out a lazy 'mrow', rolling on Carlos's chest with an annoyed look towards him in a 'pet me you mortal fool or I shall rain hazoc upon thee' sort of way (since all cats express emotions like ancient demons, duh).

 

Carlos examines his surroundings, raising a hand to gently scratch at Khoshekh's ears. He is lying on the floor of his room, door wide open as if he had just stepped through it. He feels worn and tired, rough and filthy, like he'd just gone through a long trek through the woods. And there is a large, fluffy cat sitting on his chest, guarding him or sleeping on him or who knows what.

 

Scooping Khoshekh up, Carlos pulls himself to a sitting position, setting the cat on his lap, who in turn let's out an annoyed sound and nips at his hand in an almost affectionate way. He continues to pet the cat, if only to appease him.

 

A glance around reveals a high sun in the sky, shining through Carlos's window. Midday, he guesses.

 

With a shake of his head, something falls onto his shoulders, tiny brushes that send shivers up his spine. Sand. There is sand in his clothes, his hair, clinging to his sweat dampened skin, blinking from his eyelashes. Sand, golden and small. Sand. Numerous amonts. so much sand...

 

 _"Do you ever wonder how much sand there is? It has to be a lot."_ Like a whisper, a feint memory appears in his ears. " _Ha, who even counts all the sand, Carlos?"_

Where _had_ he gone? Again. Twice, this place, where was it? Who were these people?

 

_"Big questions, Carlos. Big questions."_

 

Carlos decides to take a bath

 

-

 

Khoshekh sits next to the bath while Carlos washes the sand out of his hair, the large maine coon lazing about, keeping both of his dark eyes on the man in the bath. Carlos feels like he's done something horribly wrong and now he's being scolded for it. It's like Khoshekh is a nanny sent to watch him so he doesn't get into any more trouble again.

 

The company is welcome, though, even under the glare of the cat at his side, Carlos likes not being alone.

 

It's only when he's scrubbing the last of the sand out of his hair that he realises he really wants privacy.

 

The door bursts open, the spectacled head of Mr. Palmer poking with sweeping eyes. "Khoshekh are you in- Oh no Carlos I'msosorryIdidn'trealise-" He suddenly goes bright red, hands flying up to cover his eyes.

 

Carlos visibly jumps, sloshing water on the floor as he scrambles to cover up anything improper while his mind pulls him to try and comfort Mr. Palmer. "It's fine!" He says hurriedly, grabbing at a robe and pulling himself out of the tub as quickly as he can, wrapping himself in the robe.

 

"Oh gosh, that was so improper of me, I should have knocked. I'm so sorry, Carlos, really, oh gosh I should just leave that was so stupi-" He just keeps rambling, so Carlos decides to grab his arm, pulling just enough for him to have to tub his hands away from his face and make sure he doesn't fall over.

 

Of course, this just sends Mr. Palmer flying towards Carlos, collapsing against his chest with a loud noise of protest. Carlos's hands rush to wrap around Palmer's waist, stabilizing him before they both topple onto the floor into a pile of limbs and porcelain and probably blood.

 

"It's alright, Mr. Palmer. Anyone can make an honest mistake!" Carlos says in a way that tempts to be comforting, but apparently just makes the man more embarrassed, his face flushing and his eyes averting and darting around.

 

No wonder why. Carlos was barely dressed, in an old silk robe only hastily tied, clinging to his skin, his hair and body still wet and dripping onto the tiled floor, soaking into Mr. Palmer's clothes and if Carlos didn't pull away anytime soon, the man he's holding might just make a very big embarrassment of himself.

 

"I-I...I...Sorry." Is all Mr. Palmer can stammer out, body so frozen he would make an ideal victim for a human statue in a serial killer case.

 

"It's fine."

 

There's an awkward moment of silence before Carlos realizes how close he is to his friend. Their bodies are pressed flush together, lined up in the most intimate of ways, lips so close they could almost touch. It was entirely inappropriate. He let's go of him, taking a good step back to put a comfortable distance in-between, his own face beginning to flush heavily, he could practically feel the heat between them.

 

"Oh gosh, I am so sorry!" Mr. Palmer begins again, babbling in pure, utter embarrassment.

 

"It was an accident, really!" Carlos cuts in with, and soon there is an awful lot of awkward words exchanged before Mr. Palmer excuses himself, dashing out of the room with haste Carlos knew not a human could possess. Khoshekh quickly follows after him, leaving the flustered scientist alone.

 

He stares at the spot his friend had previously been in for a short while before snapping out of a trance, taking the time to clean up the room and dry himself off.

 

When he returns to his room he's practically done for the day without doing much or getting anything done, the sun still high and the sky. He was drained of energy, purpose.

 

It's probably why he all but screams when he feels something brush against his legs upon entering his room. The skittish man trips over his own feet, falling onto the floor rather unceremoniously, still only in a still wet silk robe, body still damp.

 

At his feet is a cat.

 

The feline rubs up against his legs affectionately before padding along his sprawled out legs to his lap, nuzzling at his abdomen in a very un-feline-like manner.

 

The cat is orange, small. A tabby cat.

 

"...Kevin?" Carlos whispers in surprise. He had wondered where the cat had gone too...

 

The little orange cat purrs happily, nudging Carlos's stomach like an affirmative.

 

Carlos doesn't quite know what to do. He pets the cat, watching Kevin rub back against his hand with pleasure before the cat scrambles up his chest, clawing at skin and silk til their eyes are parallel.

 

Carlos sees a look in Kevin's tiny cat eyes, dark and feral and intimidating. It's an intimidating cat. He feels like this is the look wolves give their prey right before they snap, the paralyzing look, fear invoking.

 

Kevin licks his nose with rough tongue, letting out a soft mew and promptly hopping away from Carlos, jumping onto the bed and curling up, presumably to take a nap.

 

Carlos sits, stunned in an odd, confused silence.

 

He feels like he's going mad.

 

-

 

Kevin stays with him while he works. Mostly he sleeps on Carlos's bed, in the patch of light that streams in from the nearby windows and makes nice, warm patches on the sheets, perfect cat-nap areas. Sometimes the cat would wander over to Carlos and climb into his lap and sniff at his notes, bat at his hair and lick his nose before going back to sleep.

 

He's very...Well, cat-like.

 

Carlos is confused, but tries not to let it bother him.

 

When Carlos leaves the room to go get supper, he is surprised to see that Kevin stays behind, staring at him from the bed. In the past he would have followed, suspiciously kept the other cats away like an opposing force, sneaking by Mr. Palmer unnoticed. But he showed no interest in leaving Carlos's room today.

 

Carlos goes downstairs, eats alone with his friend no where to be found. After finding himself sufficiently nourished, he left to return to his notes, only to catch the sound of Mr. Palmer's voice from the parlor.

 

"You're doing a very good job for me, Khoshekh. Yes you are~! Who's daddy's favourite kitty? Yes, it's you!"

 

Carlos peeks in to find a disgruntled looking Khoshekh to be coddled by a smiling Mr. Palmer, sitting in an armchair while several groups of cats are curled around the room, some on the settee, some by the fire, all seeming to sleep or groom each other quietly. The scene is adorable within itself, Palmer talking to one of his many cats like a parent to a child, a good portion of the rest of his 'children' by his feet.

 

Carlos giggles softly, dashing out of the doorway when he sees Palmer's head lift at the noise.

 

He dashes back to his room, flushing with a newfound embarrassment as he fears being found looking in on such a picture.

 

When he returns to his room again, he finds himself not in his room. He walks into a void. And then there is nothing.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be heart-wrenching, just you wait! c:


	4. The Knave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family's past is revealed, and we meet some new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sister Gershwin Palmer is SO TRANS like fight me on this I will wreck you

The sky is the same inky-purple that it had been when he had fallen asleep. Dark blacks and reds swirled like an angry storm on the horizon, with no visible sun to bring in light. They cast dark, moving shadows in the trees, flicker of existence. Light that is not there acts. Yet, hours must have past.

The heavy feeling of Kevin using his body as a bed was still there, present and cutting off the circulation in his legs. Both their bodies had slid down the tree in their sleep, now half lying on the forest floor, with Kevin's head snuggled close to Carlos's stomach, nose pressing into the junction of thigh and hip. His body had curled up to lay half across Carlo's lap, the rest spiraling into an almost impossible ball of flesh and long fluffy tail. One of his hands was wrapped tight around one of Carlos's, claws digging lightly into his skin in an almost, but not quite, unpleasant manner. 

The forest is too silent for science to understand, not even the wind stirring trees, unsettling, unwonted, and thoroughly creepy. 

There is little to do. Carlos takes his free hand and wraps it into Kevin's hair, playing with the kitten-soft strands, scratching lightly behind big fluffy ears, smiling in amusement when Kevin's nose twitches in his sleep and his purrs fill up the achingly quiet forest. 

Time passes. The cat stays asleep, making it increasingly difficult for Carlos to both stay still and fight the urge to get up. Then again, standing looked like a large obstacle he was incapable of overcoming. 

So he stays where he is, absentmindedly petting the cat curled atop him, thinking. 

For starters, where was he? Surely, this place could not be real? Yet there was numerous evidence against that idea. For instance, the blood on his soles, or the sand in his hair. Isn't that proof enough; this all had happened.

But why and how? Who was this Kevin, the horrible people he knew? Who is the woman in the sandstorm? Who is Cecil?

So many questions and no answers. It gave the scientist headaches and pains, just thinking about it all. 

The shadows in the trees were growing closer. Actually...They didn't look so much like shadows anymore. More like dark, hooded figures, with buzzing faces and flickering appearances. And they were only a few meters away, and gaining.

Carlos feels something like panic and intrigued at the same time. Anyways, either would require Kevin waking up, for defense and knowledge babbling purposes, respectively. 

The scientist shakes Kevin's shoulder a few times, trying to get him to wake up. He doesn't even make a noise other than a soft sound of resentment that the petting stopped.

The figures were only a meter away.

"You look like you need help there." Carlos physically jolts as a voice mutters into his ears. He cranes his neck to see a man dressed in a suit of silver and red armor, face hidden by a full wrapping of dark red cloth, like a balaclava. 

"..." Carlos does not know how to respond, but the man seems to realise this by his gaping mouth, as he steps past him and stands between the scientist and the figures. 

"I'm sorry, we're closed right now, fellas." The man draws a sword from his scabbard, swiftly swiping it against the dirt to draw straight line. Taking a step back, he simply stands, not even pointing the sword towards the dark figures, just staring at them. 

They stop as they come to the line, stare down at it in confusion. Then they look at the man. Then Carlos.

Then they are gone. 

The mysterious man watches them disappear before looking down at Carlos with gleaming eyes. "Hey there, friend. Seems you were in a bit of trouble there." He laughs good naturedly, sheathing his sword again. "Though it looks like you're still not out of it." Bright eyes glance down at the sleeping cat in Carlos's lap. 

"...There's nothing wrong with Kevin..." Carlos says quietly, still dazed by the event that had taken place in front of him. 

"So you do know what you're getting into? Well, if that's your prerogative... Though I imagine Cecil won't be happy about it." The knight leans against the tree, nonchalantly examining his own hands. 

Again, this Cecil guy. Who is Cecil? Ugh, this was just getting annoying. "Who IS Cecil? Everyone keeps talking about Cecil, who is he?"

"If you don't know, you must not need to know." The knight says cryptically. "Though I don't know what his game is, not telling you. Anyways, I've got a mission to fulfill, so..."  
The knight is withdrawing his sword again and suddenly Kevin is gripped by the back of the neck and thrown off of Carlos, halfway across the forest floor.

"Come, we have things to do." A metal gloved hand reaches down and takes hold of Carlos's arm, all but yanking it out of its socket as he is hauled to his feet. Carlos can hear Kevin whining sleepily, groaning and pulling himself from the floor with a soft murmur of the scientist's name, but he's paying more attention to the man that is grabbing him by the arm and pulling.

There's a growl in the distance, but all of a sudden Carlos is moving impossibly fast, hardly using his legs as he is dragged through the forest, over tree roots and rocks, seemingly phasing right over all obstacles with hardly a scratch. 

When he tries to pull away, that knight's grip just tightens and they keep moving. He thinks fleeting thoughts; of Kevin, of how worried the cat must be, of the man who is a mystery, and of what in the name of the unnamed lord had happened to his previous simply life. 

It feels like only moments before they are stopping, Carlos letting a loud noise of protest as physics propels his body forward, face smashing into a tree trunk with a loud crack. 

He crumples to the ground, grunting as splitting pain fills his body. Was his nose broken? Felt like it. Dammit, what is wrong with this world? Is hurting him like a necessity, what did he do?

"Whoops, sorry about that, Carlos." The knight is hauling him off the ground again, ignoring his growl of displeasure. 

"Who in the name of the sky are you?" Carlos finally asks with a bite, rubbing at the blood dribbling down his face angrily. 

"My name is Earl. Knave of the Castle of the Hearted Bloodstones. Friend of Cecil. And your Rescuer." Earl bows in greeting. 

Carlos is mildly annoyed. 

"Who is Cecil? What is the Castle of the Hearted Bloodstones? Where am I? What were you rescuing my from?!?" Carlos says with the most controlled temper possible. He was sick with people keeping things from him. Secrets were thrown at him with taunts and entendres and he wanted none of it! Could things make sense for once? Yet, in addition to this madness he asked himself, what is a scientist but one to ask questions? 

Carlos had been dropped into an amalgam of a universe, a world where men turned to cats and blood soaked walls of quaint village manors and men in scarlet red fabric fought off figures in hoods with words simpler than a tavern bartender. The sun never rose and women stood in sandstorms, staring at him with eyes large and shimmering unnaturally, whilst sand slipped around them and fell into his hair like soft rain. 

Had he asked for this? No. But in all his journeys, in all his life of being looked down on, in all the words spoken to him, the glares sent, the travesties and prejudices thrown at him, Carlos had been finally found something of admiration that fed his hungry desire, gnawing and greedy, for science pure and unadulterated. he had been given a gift, a box wrapped in ribbons and bows and widened into a large oak door, its obscurities the most scientifically interesting he had ever seen. This world was by far something of a mystery, it begged for questions, a starved dog, or would cat be more appropriate, sitting on the doorstep, tongue lolling for him, yes him, to investigate, to ask. 

His opportunities were endless, if only he were given a sliver of real information. Which...This man seemed to not want to give him.

"None of that is important right now. We need to get you to Cecil."

"Who is Cecil!" Carlos demands more than asks.

"He is part of the rebellion taken to fix this place. And the one who wishes to protect you, for seeable reasons."

"From what?"

"The many who wish us harm, starting with the vermin who is after us- Oh look, speaking of, run!" The Knight, Earl, grabs onto Carlos again just ask he starts to hear trees rustling close by, branches breaking and snapping, but then they're zooming through the leaves again, feet escaping from under the scientist.

As soon as he sees his chance, though, Carlos wrenches away from the knight, feeling metal scrape over his skin as he falls back, suddenly spiraling onto the forest floor. His body flies into a tree, falling into the bushes below, and Earl speeds off without him. leaving him crumpled in the middle of thorny branches and leaves. 

Ow.

Carlos reaches up to rub at his head, which is now throbbing, only to feel a slick liquid leaking from his hair. Dammit. 

"Oh, no, Carlos! What did the mean knight do to you?" Two hands cradle his bleeding head, a blurry face coming into focus. 

"K-Kevin?" Carlos narrows his eyes, finding his vision spinning. There is definitely a concerned looking cat man in front of him.

"Hey there, friend. Golly, took me awhile to catch up with you! Aw, are you okay, Carlos?"

"I...Uh...No." Everything was swirling around and dammit it hurt. Everything hurt.

"Carlos, don't go to sleep! Carlos stop that!" He could hear Kevin shouting, a hand pawing at his cheek rapidly. "Carlos!"

Now everything was black. How nice.

-

Wet. That was the first thing Carlos thought hen he came back to consciousness. Something warm and wet was trailing along his neck. Actually, it felt kind of good...And painful. Ow, no wait, that was his head. 

In the distance, someone was playing the drums. Which is just plain rude, if you ask Carlos. A constant, steady snare drum, rapid and thundering. Why would they hurt his head like that? Is he the drum?

The warm, wet...Thing trailed up past his ears and traced his scalp slowly, along the ridge of the searing pain hidden in his hair. 

"Please stop playing the drums..." Carlos finds himself murmuring to the thing. It disappears, only for a heavy weight to find itself on his chest, the feeling of something soft running along his arm. 

"Oh, you're awake!" A voice cheers. 

Carlos knows who it is before he even opens his eyes. "Kevin?"

"Hey there sleepy head!" The dark eyes of the feline man swim into the scientist's view as he slides heavy lids open. 

"Where..." It's dark where they are, darker than it was in the forest. This couldn't be the forest, of course, forests did not have whatever he was lying on; something soft and comforting.

"Oh, it was raining, so I brought us into a cave." Kevin's smile widens, offering Carlos a mouthful of pointy teeth. A glance at the walls brings Carlos to the cave's opening, where he finds the source of the odd drum music. Oh...

"Then what...." Carlos looks down at himself. His waistcoat has been removed as well as his shirt, and he's lying on pile of blankets which are all stained in blood, though not possibly just his own. It's a bit confusing, since there is blood leaking out of him, something that apparently catches Kevin's eye, as suddenly there's a rough tongue lapping at one of his cuts. "What are you doing?"

"Healing." Kevin says simply between licks. When the blood's all gone, Kevin smiles and crawls closer to Carlos, nuzzling his chest and snuggling up to him in his own sort of invasive way, acting like Carlos is a mattress and his own property to take a nap on. "You had all this leaking on you, but I healed it! It was pretty, though...You should consider decorating better." He looks up at the scientist with gleaming black eyes. 

"What happened, Kevin?" Carlos asks without commenting on the cat's penchant for blood. He'd seen his home, after all. 

"Oh, well a silly little knight thought he could take you away from me! But he must have dropped you, 'cause I found you tangled all up in a thorny bush. And then, you took a nap, and I tried to bring you to a nicer tree, but the sky started crying and I hate sky tears, so I brought you to this cave and healed you and now I'm going to take a nap on you, 'cause it's nap time."

Carlos doesn't say anything, both because Kevin ahs already slumped his head onto his chest and closed his eyes, and because the story is so odd that he doesn't know how to respond. 

He's not tired, but he has nothing to do but lie there and listen to the cat man breathing softly on his chest. His head still hurts, he's cold, except for the places where Kevin is lying on him, and he's trapped. 

Carlos falls asleep without even knowing it.

-

Waking up in odd places has become a normality by now to the scientist, so he hardly blinks when he wakes up surrounded by sand again, with a misty, gray sky above him. Something swirls around him. Figures stand above Carlos, tall and winged. Then a woman steps into his view, wreathed by light. 

The winged beings stare at him. He blearily stares back. 

"Who are you?" The old woman speaks. 

What?

-

Now he is half-sprawled on his bed, half on the floor, with a bump on his head and a crazy amount of tiny cuts. He doesn't know what just happened, but there's sand in his hair and sun on his skin. 

He does, however, feel like he needs to eat, so he wanders down to the kitchen. Finding only a pile of cats on the counter, and now Mr. Palmer anywhere at all (though the few empty bottles of brandy sitting on the counter are worrisome), he makes himself some food, and continues on like normal. 

It's beginning to become a habit. 

-

Carlos stopped in the town tavern to acquired a bottle of alcohol, the strong kind, for scientific purposes. Mr. Palmer seemed to avoid vodka and its relatives with a few steps, so Carlos saw no reason to not buy his important ingredient, and found it perfectly non-hypocritical to continue watering down Mr. Palmer's bottles of rum and brandy when he wasn't paying attention. The man was more agreeable sober.

Whilst he waited at the edge of the bar, a maid leaving to go search for his requested drink, he caught wind of a conversation cross the room. 

"That whole family is mad, the bleeding lot of them."

"Didn't the sister run away? Or was it the brother?"

"There was a brother?"

"I heard that the sister murdered her first three husbands then ran away with the fourth, had some bastard child with him."

"Well, I heard the whole lot of them are sick with some ancient disease they picked up in some foreign country. Not too soon till that one up the hill dies soon."

"Well, he is all alone..."

"Don't feel sorry for him, he's bloody insane. Probably a witch, too. you see all them cats he pulls in? Mangy wrecks are probably his army of familiars!"

"Yeah, any day he could snap and kill us all."

"Oh gosh, have you seen that new man who started living up there?"

"The scientist? Looks like that slattern who came back with the elder Palmer from some foreign savage-land."

"Wasn't it just the south? I mean, the deeper south?"

"Same thing."

"How'd that young one even get borned? Far as I can tell, it was that woman who had him. The two must be brothers."

"Like hell, they are! They look nothing alike. Besides, that one ain't crazy, just ignorant. I tell him when he comes into town, I tell him 'you don't wanna be messin' with those Palmer folks! You'll leave that place in a black box!' Well all he did was smile and move on, idiot."

"Oi, hush hush, he's right over there."

"I'll say what I want!"

"He's looking at us! Dammit, we're all doomed now. That witch up the hill is gonna cut up are livers and serve them to the devil!"

"No wait, he's walking away. Don't worry, he's gone."

"Poor fool..."

-

Lies! Carlos thought. All lies! Mr. Palmer is not sick, neither is or was his family! Are they witches? No, of course not! Sure, the man had a penchant to cats, but where is the demon in that? He was simply a man in search of attention and perhaps the amnesiatic sensation of inebriated haze. 

It was sickening how openly they talked about a man they obviously did not know!

The scientist stormed back to the manor, purchases held tightly in his hands as his feet stomped across dust and sand.

Rude, the lot of them!

-

Carlos had stayed away from the Eastern Wing up until now, but after this new knowledge, he felt warranted to take a look. Mr. Palmer hadn't been exaggerating, portraits of his mother were all over the walls.

Mona knew his mother's face well, but he'd never seen her so young. Her portraits were an array of artistic styles. Some had her dressed in old royal dresses, with ribbons in her hair and powder on her face, whilst others were bedecked with tropical flowers and simple dresses with thin fabric to keep away the day heat. In a few there was a man next to her. Tall, pale haired and thin face, with thick spectacles and lacey waistcoats. He had shining eyes and a familiar smile.

If he had been just a bit shorter, with looser hair and covered in cat hair, he would have been an older Mr. Palmer. Their faces were so similar it was slightly frightening. So Carlos guessed. "This must be the grandfather..." He murmurs to himself.

"She really was beautiful?" He jumps at the sound of his companion's voice behind his back, closer than maybe he ought to be. Carlos can feel his presence, there and prominent. "Sorry."

The scientist turns to see Mr. Palmer looking at him sheepishly from under his eyelashes. He's dressed in a worn tartan waist cat and is holding an armful of blankets, stacked rather haphazardly. 

"It's fine..."

They keep each other's gaze for a long while, locking eyes with one another. Carlos feels his own face heat up as Palmer's dusts itself pink. 

"I uh...I was just looking around at all the portraits..." Carlos stutters out. 

Mr. Palmer nods, then shakes his head as if to wipe his blush away. "Right right... So...Impressed?" He laughs nervously. 

"That's your grandfather, yes? You two look very much alike, very handsome..." Carlos muses, grinning softly to himself when he watches Mr. Palmer tare back at him with wide eyes and a flustered stutter of words. 

"I-I-I...I...I...Uh..."

Carlos chuckles slightly, turning to look back at the paintings. "It's so odd to see her so young...Why...What happened between them?"

"Oh..." Mr. Palmer places himself by Carlos's side, staring at the painting of his grandfather. "Well, he never really talked about her, but my mother used to tell me stories. Apparently when they returned from their trip, my grandfather's parents were very angry at him for bringing Mona to the estate. His trip had only been financed in hopes that it would knock some sense in him, so they sent him off to college immediately, leaving Mona at the manor. 

"She got a job in town, and found housing outside the house, lived with the Cardinal family for a long time. When he was done with school, my grandfather inherited the estate, so he had her move in again, and they worked together on some sort of...Botany assignment? His parents let them, but...He was an only child, and the only way the family line could continue. If he wanted to keep working, he would have to marry. But my grandfather had no interest in romance. He loved your mother's companionship, but she was more of his ward than anything, and his friendship with her was the closest to romantic love he had ever shown a woman. His parents set up an arranged marriage with...A horrid woman."

Mr. Palmer shivers, and Carlos finds himself wrapping an arm around his shoulders without thought, feeling the man lean closer to him. 

"I never met her, but the things I've heard...My grandmother only stayed long enough to have my mother before she ran off with a duke or something...My mother hated her, as far as I can tell, so did Mona. The feeling was mutual between the two women, and your mother left around the same time as the marriage took place. She wanted to build a life of her own...But she kept in contact for years and years later. I have the letters in the library, though they stopped some years ago..." 

Mr. Palmer falls into silence, staring at the closest painting of Mona. Carlos smiles in thought, seeing his mother painted and surrounded by flowers he had never seen before, brightly coloured, beautiful...

Carlos glances at his friend, whose eyes are glazed over with a far off memory. Carlos never had considered how lonely the man seemed, even when he is surrounded by millions of cats. He supposes that someone who drinks as much as Mr. Palmer does, though, must have a reason. But why was he so alone? Remembering the words he heard in town today, Carlos speaks. "...Sir...Where is the rest of your family?"

Carlos instantly regrets his words as he watches his friend twitch in a way that mimics pain. He opens his mouth to apologise, but the man has already started speaking.

"My mother fell in love with a man who was passing through town. Grandfather didn't approve, but soon she was married and pregnant, and there was nothing he could do about it. She birthed two boys, one in the winter, one in the spring. I was the youngest. My sister, Abigail, grew up the eldest. Here."

Carlos stays silent as Mr. Palmer tugs him down the hallway, into an empty, dark room. He sets down the blankets in his arms and pulls out a match, striking it on the wall and lighting a lantern. "This is us." There's a portrait on the wall of the room, half covered by a black sheet, which Mr. Palmer pulls down, letting dust settle in the air. Carlos sneezes. 

His friend doesn't seem to notice. 

The portrait shows four people, standing together. A woman, a man, and two young boys.

"That's us, right there. I'm the one in the blue and Abby...She's always loved to tie her hair like that."

Young master Palmer has short, light hair and a dim smile on his features. He wears a blue overcoat and a decadent cravat. Abigail is dressed in a silk, purple shirt and black vest. Her hair is long, to the shoulders, and tied neatly with a white ribbon. The two children are the only ones with glimpses of smiles. The woman, whose hair is a premature silver, much like Carlos's is on his way to, but she looks far too young. Her hair is curled in ringlets and tied up in ribbons, her expression wise beyond what humans can have. She is dressed in white; lace and flowing fabric. 

The man is different. His hair is darker than anyone elses, almost black. His eyes are painted in piercing blue, the glare of the candle making them shine. If he didn't look slightly amused, he'd be glaring.

There's something about this man that Carlos doesn't like. His appearance is off-putting. Yet, there's something about him that seems very familiar. Well, that makes a lot of sense, though.

"That's my mother, and...Him." Mr. Palmer gestures to the man. "He uh...He disappeared two months after my fifth birthday...Around when we had this painted, actually." There's that look again, like he's about to cry. 

Carlos's stomach chews on itself, guilt filling him like helium gas. 

"Abby, she...She married one of the local noble girls, had a daughter with her. But she died in childbirth. My niece, Janice, was born premature. Her legs do not work...Abby hated losing her wife, but...She married a....Well, man would be what they normally call him, but I think he's a total jerk, so maybe he's not human. Or...Well, was not human..."

Carlos finds his friend leaning close to him again. The warmth of his body through his thin cotton shirt and cat hair-covered vest bleeds through Carlos's coat, and he doesn't stop himself from sliding an arm around him and letting the man burrow closer. It's very much like holding a cat, actually. All warm, and breathing, and fluffy. 

"They're all dead, Carlos..." The man whispers, burying his face into the scientist's chest. "Abby and Steve were killed in a fire, and Janice...My beautiful niece only lived two years before she fell too ill...And mother..." He sniffs, and a wet spot starts to leak from the man's eyes. "I'm all alone..."

Okay, now Carlos feels horrible. He wraps his arms around Mr. Palmer, carefully cradling the man like he had done those few nights ago when the man thought he had died in the back garden. A hand finds its way into his friend's soft hair and Carlos weaves his fingers through it with a soft hush walking out of his lips.

"Everything's alright. Don't cry, querido. You're not alone, I'm here, we're al here for you." Hands grab onto his coat, clutching tight, and the man's face burrows even closer to Carlos. The scientist merely holds him, rubbing his back and whispering to him softly, as his mother would when he was young. 

"You're going to...To leave..." The cry man whispers back, wrapping through tears that are now falling thick and heavy, soaking the front of Carlos's shirt. "Disappear like...I don't..." he hiccups and buries his face so close to Carlos that it must be hard for him to breath, his voice muffling itself till his mumbled sobs sound like nothing but gibberish.

"No no no, corazon, don't say that. I'm not going anywhere." The scientist presses his lips to Mr. Palmer's hair, carefully carding his fingers through the softest hair at his nape. "I have never lived in a single place so interesting and homely. I have never met someone so friendly, a person I'd like to call my friend. I will not leave you alone, never forever." 

He lets his words sink in, holding Mr. Palmer and waiting as silence sets in between them, soft and comforting. With Carlos's quiet whispers and hushes, eventually his friend's tears stop and he goes quiet, grip going slack.

A long while later, the wealthy with nothing to do man lifts up his head, spectacles stained with tears, eyes ringed red. He smiles at Carlos from under a brilliant blush, eyes ducking back and forth, tentative to really look at the scientist. 

"I'm sorry..." He whispers.

"There's no reason to apologise." Carlos responds, taking out a handkerchief and wiping away drying tears. "I'm sorry I asked."

"It's alright...I haven't been able to talk about them in a long time..." He cracks a soft smile. "Thank you, Carlos. You're a very good friend..."

Carlos smiles back. He doesn't know what words to say, so he just keeps the smile, staring at the space just above his friend's eyes until it breaks, and Mr. Palmer is blushing and rushing to grab up all his sheets and blankets from earlier, whilst trying to hastily cover up the portrait again. 

Glancing down at all the blankets in his comrade's arms, Carlos changes the subject. "What are those for?"

"Hm? " Mr. Palmer snaps out of his blushing embarrassment to glance down at his arms as well. "Oh, Khoshekh is having his kittens soon. I needed more blankets to take care of them."

"...Khoshekh?" Carlos hadn't even noticed the cat was pregnant. Then again, he's very fluffy...But also male?

"I don't question his gender identification." Mr. Palmer says with the serious of a sea lion. Then again, last time anyone had checked, Khoshekh does not have the organs required to get pregnant, but whatever. 

"Well, that's great...Do you want help? With the kittens?" Carlos has no idea how to deliver cat babies, but he feels like the offer is right.

"That'd be...Very nice Carlos." And Mr. Palmer's smile is real, this time. It's brilliant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter:
> 
> The character of Alice was played by Carlos the Scientist  
> The Cheshire Cat was Kevin the Radio Host  
> The Role of the Knave of Hearts was played by Earl Harlan  
> And the Caterpillar was Old Woman Josie

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be honest, I started writing this just so that Cecil could own hundreds of cats for no real reason. It sounded amusing. The idea to make this a wonderland AU came afterwards.


End file.
